Vowels
Piglinic is home to a sizable vowel inventory of six monophthongs (or pure vowels), fourteen diphthongs, and seven triphthongs.
Monophthongs
| Letter | IPA | English Approx. | Piglinic Ex. |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | /ɑ/ | lava |
dā |
| e | /ɛ/ | bell |
re |
| i | /i~ɨ/ | beet, often with tongue positioned in the center of the mouth. |
nhî |
| y | /ɪ/ | pig |
nȳn |
| o | /ʌ/ | fungi | gho |
| u | /ɯ/ | Root, but with lips unrounded |
yú |
Diphthongs come in two types: rising diphthongs that end with /i/ and [u] (note the roundedness of the latter) and falling diphthongs that are vice versa. Tripthongs can be seen as "dipping", as all are falling diphthongs that then rise up again to /i/.
Also to note:[ʌ] shifts to [o], [ɛ] heightens to [e], and /i/ is written as 'y' in when initial.
Polyphthong Library
| "Rising" | "Falling" | "Dipping" |
|---|---|---|
| ai | ya | yai |
| ei | ye | yei |
| oi | yo | yoi |
| ui | yu | yui |
| au | ua | uai |
| eu | ue | uei |
| ou | uo | uoi |
Syllabic Consonants
Just like these vowels, nasals, the rhotic, and rhotic clusters are able to carry tones, which are discussed in the next section. For example, ŕbàj (to name), is pronounced /ɹ˨˥.bɑd͡ʒ˧/